Flat folding &amp; stacking method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method of and an apparatus for stripping a pair of hosiery from a shaping and inspecting form and conveying the hosiery to a folding station where the articles are folded longitudinally to position the legs of the pair in superimposed relation. The longitudinally folded articles are then folded transversely to a fixed length and inserted into the open end of an envelope fed from a supply thereof and the envelopes sealed to retain the folded articles in a smooth, flattened condition within the envelope. Alternatively, the articles stripped from the boarding forms may be folded longitudinally and stacked in a vertically movable tray positioned at the folding station, with one end of the articles positioned in vertical alignment in the stack to facilitate further handling.

United States Patent [191 Glaze, Jr.

[ Oct. 30, 1973 FLAT FOLDING & STACKING METHOD AND APPARATUS Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee 75 Inventor: John w. Glaze, Jr., Charlotte, NC. f Schuyler [73] Assignee: lntechCorporation, Charlotte, NC. 57 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Sept. 2, l971 A method of and an apparatus for stripping a pair of hosiery from a shaping and inspecting form andcon- [21] Appl' veying the hosiery to a folding station where the arti- Related US. Application Data cles are folded longitudinally to position the legs of [63] ContinuatiomimparL-Of Sen 66,338 Aug 24, the pair in superimposed relation. The longitudinally I .1970, pm 3,704,565 folded articles are then folded transversely to a fixed length and inserted into the open end of an envelope 52 11.5. CI 53/21 FW, 53/117 x, 223/37 fed from a pp y thereof andvthe envelopes sealed to 51 Int. Cl... B65b 63/04 retain the folded articles in a Smooth flattened Condi- [58] Field of Search 53/21 FW, 117; tion Within-the envelope Alternatively, the articles 223 37 3 7 12 stripped from the boarding forms may be folded longitudinally and stacked in a vertically movable tray posi- [56] R fer Cited tioned at the folding station, with one end of the arti- UNITED STATES PATENTS cles positioned in vertical alignment in the stack to facilitate further handling.

3,3l0,930 3/l967 Korch et al..... I 3,355,074 11/1967 Brewin et a1 223/112 14 Claims, 41 Drawing Figures 43 v 212 22 346 2/6 f 2 (j A 22 I04 T I6 292 252 I5 1 I 48 272 32 346 a J 292 276 C) 0 2 (3 B 16 22 I6 252 I4 [04 (g 272 22 292. 346 (276 H154 |6 122 252 is 292 C 4 4 22 272 p 292 76 O O D T m 4 I6 22 252 E 292 E C 64s 22 272 292 f 346 276 l P104 I6 252 16 292 g 22 272 J 292 345 275 104 I6 252 22 1 216 G C) 22 I (5 292 576 s i r 2 C- I 7Q 292 H 48 I04 7 I6 252 22 16 n i a I: I flff I6 292 252 PATENIEDnm 30 I975 FIG.

SHEET 03 0F 12 PAIENIEnucI 30 I973 SHEET 11 0F 12 IIIIIIIIIIIII Ill Illl r I lllll PATENTEI] URI 30 I973 SHEET 120$ 12 Non wnn 9:

FLAT'FOLDING & STACKING METHOD AND APPARATUS RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of copending US. Pat. application Ser. No. 66,338, filed Aug. 24, 1970, now U.S.Pat.No. 3,704,565.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART The recent growth in popularity of hosiery articles knit from the new super-stretch synthetic yarns has, to

a large extent,-revolutionized the hosiery industry. For

example, the conventional boarding operation employed in the shaping and sizing of stockings had to be abandoned because the conventional boarding process either destroyed or greatlyimpaire'd the stretch quali the boarding operation was relatively expensive, particularly from the standpoint of the labor involved, the elimination of the operation did not produce the anticipated savings since the unboarded stockings were substantially more difficult to handle and to' package. in conventional packages. Further, the absence of the smooth, finished "appearance produced by the boarding operation made it impractical, if not impossible, to

package theunboa'rde'd stretch articles in the. traditional packageto present the same smooth, flat finished appearance of the packaged boarded stockings.

The difficulties precipitated by the popularity of the stretch synthetic fibers employed in theproduction of stockings were further complicated by the almostsi multaneous increase in popularity of parity hosejThus,

the shift was, to a large extent, from the conventional.

sized, boarded stockings to the super-stretch unboarded panty hose. While this shift has resulted in the development of substantial new equipment directed to the automation of the processing, handling and package ing operations of the unboarded panty garments, substantial difficulty has been encountered'in the development of apparatus to automatically package. the garments in that the relatively large expanseof the sheer, delicate, resilient fabric is not easily deposited into the conventional stocking package in a manner to present the appearance which the customer traditionally expects- V In an effort to overcome the difficulty in handling and packaging the supnstretch stockings and panty hose, a number of devices have been developed, for depositing the articles in nonconventional hosiery packages such as cylindrical or egg-shaped containers and elongated, rectangular boxes, and one such method and apparatus for processing, handlingand packaging the'superstretch stockings is'disclosed in the above tiesof fabric-knit from the superestretch'yams. While been processed on the semi-boarding apparatus disidentified copending application. That prior application discloses the concept of semi-boarding and inspecting the hosiery by telescoping the articles onto a boarding form which is designed and dimensioned to expand, of stretch the article sufficiently to straighten and flatten the article and eliminate excess wrinkles but insufficiently to materially affect the stretch quality of the yarns during the subsequent boarding operation. The boarding form employed is a collapsible, openframe structure which is collapsed to facilitate loading a garment onto the form, then expanded to slightly stretchand shape the garment. Once expanded, the open-frame form is passed before an illuminated inspection screen where the garment is visually inspected by the boarding operator,fthen through a treatment chamber where sufficient heat is applied to dry the damp garment and to eliminate wrinkles and substantially set' the garment in the smoothflat shape of the form without relaxing the yarn sufficiently to-materially affect its stretch qualities. Upon leaving the treatment chamber, the form is automatically collapsed as it approaches astripping station and the treated garment stripped therefrom at thestripping station for automatic packaging into an elongated rectangular container. Alternatively, the 'stripped' garments are conveyed andstacked in'a'stacking tray in a flat condition with the legsthereof extending in side-by-side relation one on each side of a central divider in the tray.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a method of and anapparatus for handling and/or packaging stretch hosiery, and is particularly well adapted for use in connectionwith the folding and stacking or folding and packaging of stretch stockings and panty hose which have closed and describedin the above-identified copending application. Specifically, the method and apparatus of the present inventionare particularly well adapted to the stripping,. folding, conveying, and packaging or stacking ofsemi-boarded hosiery while maintaining the hosiery in a'smooth, flat condition presenting the appearance ofconventionalboarded hosierywhen packagedby automatic packaging equipment according to the present'invention into a generally flat hosiery package simulating the conventional boarded hosiery package.

In accordance with the present invention, upon leavingthe treatment chamber of the semi-boarding apparatus, the collapsible forms are automatically col- 1 lapsed, and the treated garments are stripped from the 7 forms by a driven stripping mechanism which simultaneously engages the'two toes ofa pair of stockings or panty hose and conveys-them in an extended condition to a'folding'station where they are deposited with the two legsextending in substantially flat, parallel, sideby-side' relation. A longitudinal folding apparatus is then actuated to position the two legs in flat, superimposed relation and with the top welt or waistband of a successive pair of garments at a fixed position regardless of variations in length of the individual pair of garmerits. Thelongitudinally folded garments are then automatically folded transversely to a fixed length, then simultaneously folded at its midpoint and inserted into the open end of a generally flat envelope-type package.

Preferably, the packages are in the form of an elongated, flattened tubular blank having fixed therein a tion, the garments may be longitudinally folded at the folding station and stacked into a vertical stack in a stacking tray for further processing such as manual packaging when necessary to satisfy the particular requirements of a specific customer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of 'the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention contained herein, taken with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the semi-boarding, folding and packaging apparatus according to the present invention, with portions of the stacking apparatus being illustrated in phantom;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the stacking apparatus with the semi-boarding device illustrated in FIG. 1; i

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the hosiery stripping, conveying and folding mechanism;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a portion of the chain drive for the folding apparatus;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, elevational view of the hosiery clamping mechanism employed to strip the hosiery from the semi-boarding forms;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 88 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the equipment illustrated in FIG. 8 and showing certain of the elements in alternate positions;

FIGS. 11a through lle are schematic illustrations of the stocking tray supporting and indexing mechanism employed in the stacking device;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary top plan view similar to FIG. 3 but showing certain of the elements in an alternate position;

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the apparatus including the conveying, transverse folding and garment inserting mechanism of the packaging apparatus;

FIG. 14 is an elevational view taken on line 1414 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a bottom plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is an elevational view of the back of the apparatus shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the equipment shown in FIG. 14, with certain elements shown in an alternate position;

' FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 17 and showing certain of the elements in a different position;

FIG. 19 is a sectional view taken along line 19l9 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 20 is a sectional view taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 14;

FIG. 21 is a side elevational view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 20, with certain of the elements shown in section and others partially broken away;

FIGS. 22 (a-i) is a schematic illustration of the operation of the transverse folding and inserting apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 13-21;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a stacking tray employed in the'apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 2-12;

FIG. 24 (a-e) is a perspective 'view of a pair of panty hose in various steps of the conveying, folding and packaging operation;

FIG. 25 is a plan view of the flattened folded blank envelope package employed in the packaging apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a top plan view of the package shown in FIG. 25, with the package illustrated in the expanded condition to receive a folded panty garment;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the closed end of the filled envelope package;

FIG. 28 is a schematic elevational view of thccnvclope feeding, opening, and closing apparatus employed in the invention;

FIG. 29 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 30-30 of FIG. 28;

FIG. 31 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3l3l of FIG. 28;

FIG. 32 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3232 of FIG. 28;

FIG. 33 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 33-33 of FIG. 28;

FIG. 34 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 34'34 of FIG. 28;

FIG. 35 is. a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 35-35 of FIG. 28;

FIG. 36 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 3636 of FIG. 28; and,

FIG. 37(a-b) is a, respectively, enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the envelope indexing ratchet mechanism employed in the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 28-36.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS While the method and apparatus of the present invention are equally useful in the handling, folding, conveying, and packaging of stockings in pairs and individual bifurcated panty garments, the invention will be described hereinbelow primarily with reference to the handling and packaging of panty hose. It should be understood, however, that the repeated reference to panty hose is for convenience and clarity of description and that the invention is not so limited.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, an integrated system for semi-boarding, stripping, folding and packaging hosiery articles, including stockings as well as bifurcated garments such as panty hose, is indicated generally in FIG. 1 by the reference numeral 10 and includes a semi-boarding machine 12, the construction and operation of which is illustrated and described in detail in copending US. Pat. application Ser. No.

5. 66,338, which detailed description is incorporated herein by reference. However, for convenience of ref erence herein, the semi-boarding machine 12 is briefly described as including a plurality of collapsible, openframe boarding forms 14, each mounted on a conveyer screen 20 to permit the loading operator to inspect the garments 16 through the open-frame form 14 to detect any defects. if a defect is detected, reject button 21 is actuated to condition the stripping apparatus to reject the defective garment after it has'passed through the treatment chamber in the manner described hereinbelow.

As the semi-boarding forms 14 leave the treatment chamber and continue along their endless path, they are automatically collapsed to'facilitate stripping as they approach a stripping station 15. At stripping sta-- tion 15, the forms 14 have their upper or toe ends positioned to be engaged by a clamping assembly 22 of the stripping and flat laying apparatus 24 of the present invention. The panty hose l6lare then stripped, toes first, from the forms 14 and conveyed in'an extended condition to a substantially horizontal folding station 17 where they are deposited with the two legs extending in substantially parallel, side-by-side relation and with the waist of the garment disposed at a fixed position regardless of variations in length in the individual garments 16. Since the garments'have been partially set in a flat, slightly stretched condition, they will lay flat without excessive effort to straighten and remove wrinkles therefrom. After the stripped garments 16 are laid flat at the folding station 17, they are folded longitudinally through the crotch and body portion to position one extended leg in super-imposed flat relation on top of the other. g

If the longitudinally folded panty hose 16 are to be hand packed or otherwise manually handled before being packaged, a receiving tray having a vertically movable bottom surface is positioned at the folding station 17 with the movable bottom surface in position to support a portion of the panty garmentwhen deposited in its outstretched horizontal condition. The remainder of the garment is supported on a movable folding frame so that the folding operation positions the panty garment onto the movable surface which may then be indexed downward so that successive garments are folded into a stack within the tray. Upon completion of the stack, the tray is automatically removed and a sec- 0nd, empty tray isvpositioned to receive the next garrnent.

If the longitudinally folded garments are to be automatically packaged, the folding operation positions the longitudinally folded garment onto afixed surface in position for a second folding mechanism to engage and transversely fold the garment to a fixed length regardless of the length of garment being processed. The individual folded garments are then inserted in a substantially smooth, flat condition into a generally flat envelope-like package closely resembling the conventional envelope package employed in merchandising boarded stockings and panty hose.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-12, the stripping, flat laying and packaging mechanism will be described in detail. A frame structure indicated generally by the reference numeral 26 is connected directly to the side of the semi-boarding apparatus 12 and supports a horizontally extending H-beam 28 at a position with one end spaced above the top of the collapsible boarding forms 14 adjacent the stripping station 15. The flanges of beam 28 support a first pair of guide bars 30, 32 in vertically spaced relation to define a track'for a first endless conveyor chain 34, and a second pair of guide 'bars'36, 38

which, in turn, supports a shaft 46 at a point spaced above the free ends of the boarding forms 14 in their path out of the treatment chamber. Shaft 46 supports a pair of sprockets '48, 50, one on each end thereof,

-with sprocket 48 engaging chain 34 and sprocket50 engaging chain 40 to guide chains 34 and 40 around the end of the beam 28. A similar shaft 52 is supported by bearing 54 on the opposed end beam 28 and a pair of sprockets 56, 58, mounted on shaft 52, engage and drive the chains 34, 40, respectively..Shaft 52 is driven by drive chain extending over a third sprocket 62 mounted on the end of the shaft 52.

Chain 40 has two short lengths of sprocket chain 64a and 64b mounted on its inside face at .two equally spaced positions therearound as best seen in FIGS. 5, 6 and 8. The two short lengths of chain 64a, 64b at each position are employed to rotate a turner drive sprocket 66 through one complete revolution upon travel of the chain 40 about one-half of its endless path'as'will be described more fully he reinbelow.

Since chains 34 and 40 move about their path on sprockets supported on common shafts, they will always remain in the same relative position with respect to one another, and the lateral spacing of chains 34, 40 provides a relatively rigid support for the two movable clampassemblies 22 mounted thereon. To support the individual clamp assemblies 22, an elongated support arm 68 is mounted, as by angle brackets 70, 72, on the respective chains 40 and 34. A pair of mounting brackets 74, 76 are joumalled for rotation on the projecting end of support arm 68, and a pair of clamp plates 78,

80 are supported on the mounting brackets 74, 76 for movement therewith. The respective clamping plates 78, 80 have resilient foam pads 82, 84 securely attached to their opposed faces to provide a clamping surface which will protect the delicate fabric of the garments 16 to be clamped therebetween.

Bracket 74 has a rotary cam follower 86 mounted thereon in position to engage a series of cam surfaces to maintain the clamping plate 78 in its desired clamping position throughout the path of the clamping mechanism. Similarly, mounting bracket 76 has a pair of rotary cam followers 88, 90 mounted thereon in position to engage cam surfaces around the clamping mechanism path to guide the clamping plate 80 in its moveand engages mounting brackets 74, 76 to resiliently urge the clamping plates 78, 80 toward one another with the rotary cam followers 86, 88 and 90 cooperating with the cam surfaces to overcome the spring force at the desired intervals to separate the clamping plates 78, 80.

Referring to FIG. 7, one of the clamping mechanisms 22 is indicated in successive positions around its endless path to illustrate the cooperation between the cam followers 86, 88 and 90 and cam surfaces 94, 98 in opening and closing the clamping plates 78, 80 to clamp a pair of panty hose 16 on a collapsible form 14.

Thus, it is seen that the clamp assembly 22 is guided with the clamping plates 78, 80in a substantially vertical, upwardly extending position along the top, or return, portion of the path by the cam followers 86, 88 engaging a cam surface 94 defined by the horizontal leg ofa structural angle 96. As the clamp assembly moves into the curved end portion of the path around the sprockets 48, 50, cam followers 86, 88 engage a curved cam surface 98 which converges toward the path of support arm 68 to thereby overcome the resilient force of spring 92 and progressively separate the clamping plates 78, 80 so that, as the clamp assembly passes above the top of a collapsible boarding form 14 in the stripping position, the resilient pad 84 on clamping plate 80 passes just above the form.

As best seen in FlGS. and 8, the respective rotary cam followers 86, 88 and 90 are each disposed in slightly offset vertical planes to. facilitate guiding the respective followers over different, closely positioned cam surfaces. Thus, at the bottom portion of the curved path above the stripping station illustrated in FIG. 7, the cam surface 98 is separated into two laterally and vertically offset surfaces 980 and 98b, with the cam follower 86 following cam surface 980 and cam follower 88 following cam surface 98b. While cam surface 98a guides the resilient pad 84 above the top of the form 14, cam surface 98b permits the resilient pad 82 to engage the top of the form so that the initial contact between the surface of the resilient pad and a pair of panty hose on the form willcommence the stripping action. At about the same time, the cam follower-86 passes beyond the end of cam surface 98a, thereby freeing the clamping plate 80 so that resilient spring 92 urges the resilient pad 84 upwardly into contact with the opposed end of form 14 to engage and resiliently clamp the toe portions of a pair of panty hose 16 so that continued movement of the clamping mechanism 22 along its endless path will strip the panty hose 16 from the collapsed form 14. The relatively thick resilient pads 82, 84, combined with the flexibility of the openframe forms 14, permit the effective clamping of the toe portions of a garment 16 on the moving form without damaging the fabric.

Continued movement of the clamping mechanism 22 from the stripping position will bring cam follower 86 into engagement with horizontal cam surface 100 to rotate the clamping assembly about shaft 68 toa substantially horizontal position with the clamping plates 78, 80 directed toward the stripping position. In this position, the cam follower 88 also engages the cam surface 102 to urge the clamping plate 80 downwardly toward clamping plate 78, thereby assisting the spring 92 to assure adequate clamping force on the toes of the panty hose to initiate the stripping operation.

To assist in the stripping operation, a continuously driven stripping roller 104 is mounted adjacent the top of collapsible forms 14 at the stripping position so that, as a garment 16 is drawn from the top of the form 14, it is drawn over the moving surface of roller 104. This driven roller 104 not only assists in stripping the garment 16 from the form 14, but also tends to maintain the smooth, flat relation as the trailing portions of the garment 16 pass from the end of the form 14. Roller 104 is driven by a sprocket 106 which continuously engages chain 40.

To further assist in guiding the stripped garment 16 and to assure accurate positioning of the body portion of the stripped garment at the folding station 17, a vertically extending guide plate 108 is positioned to project upwardly between the two leg portions of the panty garment 16 to maintain them in their separated, substantially parallel condition. The forward end of guide plate 108 is curved so that, as the crotch portion of the panty garment engages and is positioned by the guide plate, it is permitted to ride thereover without interrupting the movement thereof. At the same time, air, under pressure, is directed downwardly from a conduit 110 onto a deflector plate 111 to impinge upon the top surface of the panty garment 16 being stripped from the forms 14, with the flow of air tending to continuously straighten and smooth the garment.

The flow of air from conduit 110 is directed toward the opening in the top portion of a reject tube 112 positioned immediately adjacentthe continuously driven roller 104. Thus, when a defective garment is signalled by the position of the reject button 21, as described in copending application Serial No. 66,338, this signal will automatically release the clamping mechanism 22 in the mamner described herein below and the flow of air through reject tube 112 will deflect the panty garment downwardly therethrough.

As the clamping assemblies 22 move away from the stripping station 15 along the bottom portion of their endless path, cam follower 88 passes above and engages the cam surface 114 formed on the lower edge of cover plate 116 of the stripping and flat laying mechanism 24 to thereby prevent downward rotational movement of the assembly about shaft 68. Also, roller 86 passes beneath the cam surface 118 of a movable cam track 120 supported by pivot arms 122, 124 on brackets 126, 128, respectively.

A linear fluid motor has its piston connected, through bracket 132, to the movable cam track 120 and its cylinder end connected, through bracket 134, to the frame 26 so that movement of the fluid motor piston will cause pivotal movement of the arms 122, 124, to raise or lower cam track 120 and the cam surface 118 thereon. An electrical switch is mounted on cover plate 116 in position to engage and be actuated by cam follower 90 as a clamp assembly 22 passes therebeneath. Switch 135 is connected in an electric circuit with a switch on the semi-boarding apparatus positioned to be engaged by reject button 21 so that, in the event of a defective garment being signalled by reject button, the electric circuit will be energized in the manner described in US. Pat. application Ser. No. 66,338. Thus with the reject circuit energized, actuation of the electrical switch 135 will complete an electric circuit to actuate a suitable valve (not shown) to direct fluid under pressure to the fluid motor 130 to pivot arms 122 and 124 in a direction lowering cam surface 118. The lowering of cam surface 118, acting through cam follower 86,will overcome the force of spring 92 and thereby separate Clamping plates 78,80 and release the toes of a garment clamped therebetween before the body. portion of the garment has passed reject tube 112. Thus, upon release of the garment by the clamping mechanism 22 the flow of air through reject tube 112 will quickly remove the defective garment. However, if reject button 114 has not been positioned to indicate a defective garment, the circuit to switch 135 will not be energized and actuation thereof by the cam follower 90 will not result in the garmentbeing released.

As the clamping assemblies 22 move around the return end of the endless path, cam follower 88 engages the inner surface of a curved cam track 137 and cam follower passes from beneath cam surface 118. This permits the clamping plates 78, 80 to rotate, bygravity, around 'shaft 68 so that carn follower 86 engages the outer surface .of c am track 137. At the same time cam follower 90 engages the inner surface of cam track 138. At the top of the curve, cam follower 86 engages cam surface 94 and cam follower 90 passes into a cam track 139. Furthermovementwil] cause cam follower 90 torotate the clamping plates 78, 80 about shaft 68 50 that cam follower 88 passes up through a cut-out portion 94a of cam surface 94 to return the clamping assembly to the topposition shown in FIG. 7.

As illustrated in FIG. '2, a photocell is positioned above the path of a garment 16 leaving the stripping station so that a beam of light from a source (not shown) positioned th'erebeneath will be interrupted by the passage of the garment 16 from the stripping station 15. Photocell 136 is connected in a suitable electric circuit to the valve (not shown) controlling actuation of motor 130 so that, upon passage of the -trailing end, or waistband, of a pairof panty hose 16 beneath the photocell 136', the clamping mechanism 22'will be released in the manner described above. However, the photocell 136 is preferably connected in the valve control circuit of motor 130 through a suitable time delay relay so that the waistband will be released at a fixed distance beyond the photocell 136 when the toe of the panty garment is released. Thus, the waistband of each successive garment 16 will be released at exactly the same position regardless of variations in length of the individual panty garments. If desired, the position of the waistband can be altered by changing the time delay.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 5, and 8, it is seen that, as a garment 16 is stripped from a form 14 and conveyed therefrom over roller 104 by the clamping assembly 22, the garment will be extended with one leg above a fabric-covered folding frame 140 andthe other leg above the elevated bottom platform 142 of a stacking tray 144, with the frame 140 and platform 142 cooperating to define a folding station 17. The folding frame 140 includes an elongated rod member 146 journalled by bearings 148 for rotation about its longitudinal axis ex tending substantially parallel to the path of clamp assemblies 22 in their movement ,away from the stripping station 15. A pair of generally U-shaped rod members 150, 152 are mounted, as by welding, on shaft 146, and an open mesh fabric sleeve 154 is mounted upon and covers the frame to define an elongated platform support for one-half of the extended pair of panty hose with the rod 146 extending substantially parallel to and between the outstretched legs thereof.

As best seen in FIG. 5, a pinion 156 is mounted on one end of shaft 146, with pinion 156 meshing with the gear teeth on a rack 158. The rack 158 is supported by suitable bearing means (not shown) for reciprocating movement by a'crank 160 mounted on a shaft 162 extending from a gear box 164. A second shaft 166 extends from gear box 164 at right angles to shaft 162 and in spaced parallel relation to rack 158 with shaft 166 extending beneath a supporting plate 168 and guide 108. Shafts 162 and 166 are driven through gear box 164 by sprocket 66 mounted on aninput shaft 172 in position to meshwith and driven by chain segment 64.

A cylindricalclamp member 174 mounted on the end of shaft 166 clamps asubstantially rectangular hold down flap-176 in position to engage and hold down the end of a pair of-panty hose folded upon the bottom platform 142 of the stacking tray 144. Hold down flap 176 is preferably made of a smooth, flexible fabric or belting material having sufficient weight to effectively hold the end of.a folded pair of panty hose against movement as a second pair is drawn thereove'r. Thus, upon rotation of shaft 166, the flexible hold down flap 176 will be drawn from the waistband end of a pair of pantyhose, turned through one rotation of shaft 166, and returned to its initial position. At the same time, rotation of the crank 160 will reciprocate rack 158 which, acting through pinion 156, will rotate. turning frame 146 about itslongitudinal shaft axis through 180 degrees to fold a pair of panty hose upon its longitudinal center line to thereby place one leg in substantially smooth, flat, overlying relation with the other leg as i]- lustrated in FIG, 3, then return the frame 140 to the position illustrated in FIGS. 3, 5, and 8 before flap 176 is returned to its initialpositionto hold down the end of the justfolded garment. The position of the frame 140 when rotated through 180 degrees to fold a garment is illustrated in FIG. 12.

Since shaft 166 and rack 158 are driven from the same gear box by one revolution of the sprocket 66 through engagement of the chain segments 64 it is seen that the hold down flap 176 is withdrawn as the folding operationcommences, then returned to its rest position on top of the end of the stack of folded garments as the turning frame 140 returns to its rest position. It is understood that the location of the chain segment 64 on the chain 40 is such that the clamping mechanism 22 which has just stripped a garment 16 and drawn it onto theturning position has also cleared the turning frame 140 before the chain segments 64 associated with the second clamping mechanism 22 engage the sprocket 66 to fold the garment. Thus, as one clamping mechanism 22 commences the stripping operation, the folding operation is completed on the pair of panty hose previously stripped by a second clamping mechanism 22.

As shown in FIG. 6, the chain segments 64 at each of the two locations on chain 40 are made up of two short spaced lengths of chain 640 and 64b. This results in the rotation of sprocket 66 being interrupted briefly upon completion of one-half a revolution which, in turn, produces a brief interruption in movement of the turning frame 140 and hold-down flap 176. This is desirable to permit a normal separation of the porous fabric cover 154 from the garment being turned before reversal of movement of the turning frame 141). In practice, it has been found that there is a tendency for the just-turned garment 16 to be lifted by vacuum created from the turning frame 140 when this brief interruption is not provided.

Sprocket 66 is provided with a pair of detents 67 on its side face in position to releasably engage a spring pressed plunger 69 supported on bracket 71. The plunger 69 and detents 67 cooperate to releasably retain sprocket 66 in a fixed position when the teeth thereof are not in engagement with and being driven by chain segments 64a or 641;.

The stacking trays 144 are each made up of a pair of parallel, vertically extending side panels 178 defined by a felt panel 180 supported on an open rectangular frame 182 formed from a length of tubular material as shown in FIG. 23. However, for clarity of illustration, the stacking trays 144 are illustrated in other views of the drawings with the felt panels 180 omitted in order tomore clearly disclose other structural features of the apparatus. The two tubular frames 182 are supported platform 230 is connected, through a mounting bracket 232, to a guide rod 234 which extends through an opening in platform 186 to prevent rotation of the elevator platform during its vertical movement.

A pair of latch members 236 are pivotally mounted on each of the tray-support rails 188, 190 and are biased, as by spring 238, to an elevated position engaging and releasably retaining a stacking tray 144 in the stacking position when the elevator platform 230 is in the raised position. However, upon lowering the piston 226, platform 230 will engage the top end surfaces 240 of the latch members 236 to pivot them about their support pins 242 to their retracted position spaced below the top surface of the tray-support rails as shown in FIG. 10. A microswitch 243 is mounted on the top surface of platform 186 in position to be engaged and actuated by' the bottom surface of elevator platform in upright, parallel, spaced relation by a pair of tubular bottom support members 184' having their opposed ends rigidly welded to the respective side frames 182. A felt-covered bottom panel, or board, 142 is positioned between-the two side panels 178 and supported on the top surface of the two bottom support members 184.

Frame 26 includes a horizontally extending platform 186 which supports a stacking tray conveying and elevating mechanism which automatically maintains a stacking tray 144 in position to receive the longitudinally folded garments 16. The stacking tray conveying mechanism includes a pair of spaced, parallel traysupport rails 188, 190 adapted to engage and support the tubular frames 182 of the individual stacking rays 144. A pair of identical indexing rails 192 are supported, one outboard of and closely adjacent to each back of the support rails 188, 190, respectively, in posi-.

tion to engage and feed the individual stacking trays 144 to the loading position. The indexing rails 192 each include an upwardly directed channel 194 having a plurality of indexing fingers 196 pivotally supported therein as by pins 198. Fingers 196 are movable between a retracted position within the channel 194 and a vertical indexing position projecting above the channel 194, and are normally resiliently urged by springs 200 to the indexing position shown in FIG. 8. The indexing rails 192 are reciprocated along tray support rails 188, 190 by a suitable linear fluid motor 202 having its cylinder end connected, as by pin 204 and bracket 206, to platform 186, and having its piston rod 218 connected through bracket 208 and mounting plate 210 to the bottom surface of channels 194. pair of cylindrical guide bars 212 each have one end mounted on bracket 206 and their other end supported, as by an angle bracket 214, on the respective tray-suppon rails 188, 190. Each of the guide bars 212 extends through a cylindrical opening in the brackets 208 and a sirriilar opening in a bracket 216, so that movement of the piston rod 218 in either direction will maintain the two indexing rails 192 in parallel spaced relation with respect to the adjacent tray-support rails.

Positioned directly beneath the folding station on platform 186 is an elevator motor 220 including anelongated fluid cylinder 222 mounted on a bracket 224 and a vertically extending piston rod 226. Piston rod 226 has an enlarged head 228 which supports an elevator platform 230 adapted to engage and support the bottom panel 142 of the stacking trays 144. Elevator 230 upon movement of the platform to the fully lowered position. A second microswitch 244 is mounted adjacent the turning frame 154 in position to be actuated thereby upon each turning motion. Switches 243 and 244 are each connected in a suitable electrical circuit for controlling movement of the stacking tray indexing and elevating system. Thus, when the elevator platform 186 is moved to the fully lowered position, switch 243 is actuated to energize a circuit to a suitable valve to direct fluid under pressure through the inlet port 245 of motor 202 to commence movement of the indexing rails 192 from the position shown in FIGS. 8 and 11a to the left, as indicated in FIG. 11b, so that the indexing fingers 196 each engage the frame 182 of a stacking tray 144. Further movement of the indexing rails 192 will cause the indexing fingers 196 to shift the respective indexing trays 144 to the right, as shown in FIG. 110, to remove a filled tray 144 and to position an empty tray 144 at the stacking position. Fluid is then directed to the port 246 of fluid motor 202 to shift the indexing rails to the left as shown in FIG. 11d, so that the respective indexing fingers 196, upon engaging the stacking trays 144, will be pivoted downward and pass therebeneath and return to the position shown in FIG. lle ready to commence another cycle. At the same time, fluid is directed to the elevator motor 220 to raise the elevator platform '230 and the tray bottom panel 142 to the fully elevated, stacking position.

Upon rotation of the turning frame 154 through 180 degrees to fold and stack a garment 16 on the panel 142, switch 244 will be actuated to lower the piston 226 a predetermined amount to thereby maintain the level of the stack at a substantially constant height. Upon actuation of the switch 244 a predetermined number of times, piston 226 is lowered to the fully retracted position, and the cycle is repeated. As an alternative to the mechanically actuated switch 244, a photoelectric cell may be installed to maintain the height of the stack at a predetermined level in a manner wellknown in the stacking art.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 13 through 22, the method and apparatus for transversely folding the longitudinally folded garments 16 into a fixed length and for inserting the folded garments into an envelope-type package will be'described in detail. This apparatus includes an elongated folding platform 250 mounted adjacent the movable folding frame with the platform 250 extending beyond the folding frame 140 to a packaging station spaced from the semiboarding apparatus 12. An angle bracket 252 is mounted on and extends 250 at a predetermined distance from the position of the waistband of the folded garment l6. Bracket 252 is mounted in position for the legs of thefolded garment 16 to extend thereover so that the bracket 252 holds the legs above the top surface of the platform 250 in theposition shown in FIG. 24c.

Mounted adjacent the folding platform is a garment conveyer consisting of an H-beam 254 having a first pair of guide rails 256, 258 mounted on its flanges to define the top and bottom rows of a guide track for a conveyer chain 260, and a second pair of guide rails 262, 264 mounted on the flanges of beam 254 to define a second parallel guide track for a second conveyer chain 266.' A first shaft 270 is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis on one end of beam 254 with shaft 270 supporting a pair of sprockets 272, 274 on its opposed ends for engaging the chains 260, 266 to guide them around one end of their closed path. Similarly, a second shaft 276 mounted on the opposed end of beam 254 supports a second pair of sprockets 278, 280 for engaging and guiding the chains 260, 266 about the opposed end oftheir respective paths. Two short lengths of drive chain 282 are rigidly mounted on the outer face of chain 266 formovement therewith about its fixed path to engage and intermittently drive sprocket 284 mounted on beam 254 and two similar short lengths of drive chain 283 are mounted on chain 260 to drive a second sprocket 286 in the manner described above with respect to. the intermittent drive sprocket for the folding frame 140.

A pair of identical support brackets 288 are rigidly mounted on and extend betweenthe conveyer chains 260, 266. Each of the brackets 288 supports a downwardly extending shaft 290 for mounting a laterally ex-' tending folding and conveying arm 292. The conveying arm 292 is journaled for rotation on shaft 290 by a bearing 294, and rotation is resisted by a coil spring 296. The compressive load in spring 296 is such that arm 292 will normally be frictionally retained in any rotational position, with the frictional force being sufficient to enable the conveying arm 292 to fold or conv'ey a garment 16 along the path defined by the conveyer chains 260, 266, and yet permit the conveying arm 292 to be pivoted about the shaft 290 upon engagernent with a fixed abutment. As best seen in- FIG.

15, two fixed abutments 298, 300 are mounted on beam 254 in position to engage and rotate the conveying arm 292 about its supporting shaft 290. .T he first abutment 298 is supported, as by bracket 302, in position to engage and rotate the conveying arm 292 to the extended or conveying position projecting laterally from the conveyer chain 256 asthe supporting bracket 288 moves along the lower portion of its path. In this position the conveying arm 292 projects laterally across and in vertically spaced relation above folding platform 250. The second abutment 300 is supported by bracket 304, at a fixed distance from abutment 298 and is located to engage and rotate the conveying arm 292 to'a retracted position to one side of the folding platform 250 as indicated in the right-hand portion of FIG. 13.

' Mounted on beam 254 near the end thereof adjacent the garment folding station is a garment-clamping and -lifting mechanism indicated generally by the refefence numeral 306 and including an elongated arm 308 pivotally mounted, as by shaft 310, for limited rotation -edge guide 352-.

about a horizontal axis. Arm 308 has an elongated cam slot 312 formed therein which receives a rotary cam follower 314 mounted on the side face of sprocket 284, so that, upon rotation of-the sprocket 284 by'engagement with the short length of chain 282, cam follower 314, riding in cam slot 312, will oscillate arm 308 about its pivotal support shaft-310 between a lowered and an elevated position.

Mounted upon the free end of arm 308 is a fixed clamping jaw 316 and a movable clamping jaw 318 which is'pivotally supported, as by pin 320 for movement toward and away from jaw 316. Clamping jaw 318 is movable between its open and closed position by an actuating arm 321 which is normally biased by spring 322 in a direction to close the jaws and is moved to the open position shown in FIG. 17 by a pin 324 slidably mounted on arm 308. Pin 324 is positioned to be engaged and projected outwardly into engagement with arm 321 to open the jaw 318 to receive the angle bracket 252 and the leg portion of a garment 16 folded thereover upon lowering the arm 308. Further rotation of sprocket 284 will permit pin 324 to be retracted and the jaws to close to clamp the garment at the bracket 252 before arm 308 commences to move upward to lift a fold of the garment at a fixed distance from the waist band. Actuating arm 32] has a downwardly depending lever member 326 mounted thereon which normally extends closely adjacent the chain 266 and which projects into the path of chain segment 282 when the arm 308 is in the elevated position. Thus, upon movement of the short chain segment282 around sprocket 274 and along the lower portion of its path, lever 326 will be moved upwardly against the force of spring 322 to open the clamping jaws momentarily even though pin 324 is not in engagement with the arm 322 in the elevated position. The position of arm 326 is such that the clamped fold of the garment is released substantially as the waistband thereof passes therebeneath so that the garment is folded transversely over the arm 292 to a fixed predetermined length,

A second elongated arm 330 is pivotally mounted on I beam 254 for limited oscillating movement about shaft ing its opposed ends supported by angle brackets 344 mounted on the upwardly projecting end of a flat plate plunger 346. The plunger 346 is guided for vertical reciprocating movement by a suitable edge guide 348 mounted on beam254 by bracket 350 and by second As best seen in FIG. 16, folding platform 250 has a transversely extending slot or opening 354 formed therein, which opening is bounded by a short, generally rectangular, downwardly directed flange 356. The

opening 354 is positioned directly beneath the lower end of plunger 346 so that, upon rotation of the sprocket 286, cam follower 336 will drive arm 330 in a direction to project plunger 346 downwardly through the opening 354 then return the plunger to the raised position shown in FIG. 20. 

1. The method of stacking hosiery articles each having a pair of legs comprising the steps of: clamping the toe portion of successive hosiery articles and conveying the articles, toes first, to a longitudinal folding station at a stacking station while maintaining the articles in a substantially flat extended condition, positioning a stacking tray beneath said longitudinal folding station, elevating the bottom surface of said tray to said longitudinal folding station to define a portion of a support surface, depositing the articles at said longitudinal folding station on said support surface with the legs of the articles extending in generally parallel side-by-side relation, longitudinally folding one leg of said articles into generally flat superimposed relation with the other leg, lowering said folded articles and said bottom surface progressively as successive articles are folded thereon to permit the next article conveyed to said stacking station to be folded on top of the previous article, and repeating the steps to fold successive articles into a substantially vertical stack of longitudinally folded articles upon said tray.
 2. In the method of stacking hosiery as defined in claim 1, the further improvement comprising the steps of: sensing the position of the trailing end of the article being conveyed as said trailing end approaches said longitudinal folding station, and releasing the clamped toe portions when said trailing end has reached a predetermined position on said support surface.
 3. In the method of stacking hosiery as defined in claim 1, the further improvement comprising the steps of: sensing the position of the trailing end of the article being conveyed as said trailing end approaches said longitudinal folding station, and releasing the clamped toe portions to position said trailing end of successive articles at substantially the same position on said support surface regardless of variations in length of the individual articles.
 4. In a system for treating and handling hosiery articles each having a pair of legs in which the articles are loaded onto boarding forms, conveyed seriatum through a treatment chamber while supported on the boarding forms, and subsequently stripped from the boarding forms for further handling, the improvement comprising the steps of: substantially simultaneously clamping the toe ends of the legs of treated articles while on said boarding forms, moving the clamped toe ends away from the boarding forms to strip the articles from the boarding forms and convey the articles away from the boarding forms in an extended substantially flat condition, depositing the stripped articles at a longitudinal folding station in an extended substantially flat condition on a support surface with the legs of the articles extending in substantially parallel spaced relation, longitudinally folding onE leg of said articles into generally flat superimposed relation with the other leg, repeating these steps to strip, convey and longitudinally fold successive articles treated in said treatment chamber onto the top of a stack of articles at said folding station, progressively lowering said stack into a stacking tray positioned beneath said folding station as successive articles are folded thereon to maintain the top of the stack of folded articles at substantially constant level, and replacing the filled tray with an empty tray upon stacking a predetermined number of articles thereon.
 5. In the system for treating and handling hosiery articles as defined in claim 4, the further steps of: elevating the bottom surface of the empty stacking tray to said folding station to define at least a portion of said support surface, and progressively lowering said bottom surface as successive articles are folded in comprising: folding station to maintain the top of said stack of articles at a substantially constant level.
 6. In the system as defined in claim 4, the further improvement comprising the steps of: sensing the position of the unclamped end of the stripped article approaching said folding station, and releasing the clamped toe ends of said article to position the unclamped ends of successive articles at substantially the same position on said support surface regardless of variations in the length of individual articles.
 7. In the system as defined in claim 4, the further improvement comprising the steps of: sensing the position of the unclamped end of the stripped article approaching said folding station, and releasing the clamped toe ends of said article when said unclamped end has reached a predetermined position on said support surface.
 8. A treating and handling apparatus for hosiery articles each having a pair of legs comprising in combination: semi-boarding means for semi-boarding individual hosiery articles, said semi-boarding means including a plurality of elongated boarding forms, conveyor means for moving said forms about an endless path extending past a loading station, through a treatment chamber, and past a stripping station, said forms being collapsible to facilitate loading the articles thereon and stripping the articles therefrom, means for collapsing said forms at said stripping station, stripping means at said stripping station for substantially simultaneously engaging the toe portions of articles mounted on said forms and stripping the articles therefrom, said stripping means including article conveyor means for conveying the stripped articles in an extended, substantially flat, smooth condition and depositing the articles in said extended condition onto a support surface at a folding station with the two legs extending in substantially parallel side-by-side relation, folding means for longitudinally folding one of said legs in substantially flat, super-imposed relation on top of the other said leg, means at said folding station for progressively lowering the longitudinally folded articles to maintain the level thereof substantially constant comprising a stacking tray positioned beneath said folding station, said stacking tray having a vertically movable article supporting platform therein, and motor means for raising said article supporting platform to define a portion of said support surface, said motor means being operable to lower said article supporting platform to maintain the top of the stack of articles on said article supporting platform at a substantially constant level, whereby successive articles are stacked into a substantially vertical stack as they are folded at said folding station.
 9. The hosiery handling apparatus as defined in claim 8 further comprising: stacking tray conveyor means extending beneath said folding station, said stacking tray conveyor means including means for advancing an empty stacking tray into a loading position to receive a stack Of articles therein, and means for removing a filled stacking tray upon a predetermined number of articles being deposited therein.
 10. The hosiery handling apparatus as defined in claim 8 further comprising: sensing means for sensing the trailing end of said article when said article is moved onto said support surface, and means operated by said sensing means controlling said article conveyor means to deposit said articles on said support surface when the trailing end of said articles reaches substantially the same position on said support surface regardless of variations in the length of the individual articles.
 11. The hosiery handling apparatus as defined in claim 8 further comprising: sensing means for sensing the trailing end of said article when said article is moved onto said support surface, and means operated by said sensing means controlling said article conveyor means to deposit said article on said support surface when the trailing end of said article reaches a predetermined position on said support surface.
 12. Apparatus for stacking hosiery articles and the like comprising: means for substantially simultaneously clamping the toe portions of said articles, conveyor means for conveying said means clamping the toe portions to convey the articles in an extended, substantially flat, smooth condition to a folding station and to deposit said articles on a support surface at said folding station with the two legs extending in substantially parallel side-by-side relation, folding means for longitudinally folding one of said legs over in substantially flat, super-imposed relation on top of the other said leg, means for positioning a stacking tray beneath said folding station, said stacking tray having a vertically movable article supporting platform therein, and means for raising said article supporting platform to define a portion of said support surface, said raising means being operable to lower said article supporting platform to maintain the top of the stack of articles formed thereon at a substantially constant level.
 13. Apparatus as defined in claim 12 further comprising: sensing means for sensing the trailing end of said article when said article is conveyed onto said support surface, and means operated by said sensing means controlling said means clamping the toe portions to deposit said article on said support surface when the trailing end of said article reaches a predetermined position on said support surface.
 14. Apparatus as defined in claim 12 further comprising: sensing means for sensing the trailing end of said article when said article is conveyed onto said support surface, and means operated by said sensing means controlling said means clamping the toe portions to deposit said articles on said support surface when the trailing end of said articles reaches substantially the same position on said support surface regardless of variations in the length of the individual articles. 